Disposable litter boxes are well known in the industry of house pet accessories. The common type provides for a combination prepackaged litter container for display, opened for use by house pets (such as cats, rabbits, small dogs, etc) and ultimately closed for disposal. These litter boxes are relatively flat containers having short side and end walls which extend into bottom and top flaps for forming a bottom and a top respectively. The bottom flaps are folded and fastened and thus forms an open-top permanently rectangular container. A predetermined amount of litter is placed in the container and the top flaps are bent and fastened, usually with a strip of low bonding adhesive to permit the utlimate opening of the litter box for use by a house pet.
When the litter box is opened, the upstanding top flaps create an open-top container of considerable height to prevent litter from being kicked over the walls by the pet. It is found that young pets and small pets are unable to enter or jump into the high-walled litter box, rendering the litter box inconvenient for use by different sized pets.
After the litter box has sufficiently been used by a pet, the upstanding top flaps are folded over each other to enclose the used litter within and dispose of entirely. It is found that pet owners consider it undesirable to grasp a used litter box from the sides, ends or bottom in order to dispose of the box. Such boxes have been disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,014,292 of Mar. 29, 1977 as invented by W. J. Coughlin and R. D. Fecci and U.S. Pat. No. 4,628,863 of Dec. 16, 1986 as invented by L. L. Eichenauer.
In order to overcome these difficulties experienced by pet owners, applicant is now providing a disposable litter box with a handle, for releasably locking the top flaps in a closed position, for sealing the box and enable carrying it in a horizontal position without touching the ends, sides or bottom of the box.
In a preferred embodiment of the invention, one of the top flaps when in upstanding position, provides an opening for different sized pets to enter and exit the open-top litter box. When the top flap with an opening is folded and locked with the other top flaps, a completely sealed box is still provided.
In another preferred embodiment, applicant provides a means to easily releasably lock the top flaps in upstanding position.
In yet another preferred embodiment of the invention, a means is provided wherein a box in the open-top position and having the bottom prefastened, is easily folded flat for compactness and opened up into the open-top position with bottom and vice versa.